Every day, the NYT Mini Crossword gives your brain a brief exercise. It's a small puzzle, usually a 5x5 grid, that you can solve quickly. The full-sized New York Times crossword can take a long time to do, while the Mini usually only takes a few minutes. A lot of people like it as a respite for their brains every day.

The Mini Crossword for Saturday, July 19, had a mix of common words and some more particular facts. You're not the only one who got stuck on a clue. This guide has all the answers and explanations for today's puzzle, as well as some ideas on how to get better at solving puzzles in the future.

Every day, I play the NYT Mini Crossword to keep my mind sharp. It's short, hard, and always satisfying to finish!

Today's NYT Mini Crossword Clues and Answers (Across)

The answers to the Across clues in the July 19 NYT Mini Crossword are as follows:

Across Clue: Able to see through

Answer: CLEAR.

Across Clue: "Is anyone there?"

Answer: HELLO.

Across Clue: Greek myth's winged horse

The answer is PEGASUS. This hint is about the legendary mythical horse that has wings.

Across Clue: A salamander that can heal itself and looks cute

Answer: AXOLOTL. This is a one-of-a-kind word that can be fun to spell in crosswords. It means a kind of salamander that can grow back its limbs.

Across Clue: Short form of texting

Answer: SMS. This is a typical short form for Short Message Service, which is used for text messaging.

Across Clue: The place where bossa nova was born

Answer: RIO. This is about Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a city famous for its music, especially bossa nova.

Across Clue: Equal score

Answer: TIE. A simple hint for a well-known sports word.

Across Clue: Bug in Dalí's "The Persistence of Memory"

The answer is ANT. This hint leads to a certain part of Salvador Dalí's well-known picture.

Across Clue: Abbreviation for directory

Answer: EXT. This is a frequent way to shorten "extension" in a phone or directory system.

Clue: A short name for a Metroid console

The answer is NES. This is a reference to the Nintendo Entertainment System, which is a classic game console.

Today's NYT Mini Crossword Clues and Answers (Down)

Here are the answers to the Down clues in the July 19 NYT Mini Crossword:

Down Clue: A snack for a party made of cereal and pretzels

CHEXMIX is the answer. A common party snack combo.

Down Clue: A present with a lot of pieces that fit together

Answer: LEGOSET. This is a reference to the famous building toy.

Down Clue: The name of this airline comes from the Book of Hosea.

Answer: ELAL. This is Israel's national airline, and its name comes from the Bible.

Down Clue: The person who lost the election

Answer: ALSORAN. This word means someone who ran for office but didn't win.

Down Clue: A comedian's routine

Answer: ROUTINE. This is what a comic has planned to say or do.

Down Clue: Command that uses the "V" key

The answer is PASTE. This is a typical command for computer keyboards that is often used with Ctrl+V or Cmd+V.

Down Clue: You might win money if you pull their arms.

The answer is SLOTS. This is about slot machines in a casino.

It's exciting to figure out a hard NYT Mini hint. It's not only the answer; it's also the "aha!" moment.

How to Solve the NYT Mini Crossword Faster: Expert Tips

The Mini Crossword is meant to be solved quickly, but there are several tips that will help you do it even faster. Here are some tips:

Tip 1: Pay attention to common crosswordese

Crosswordese is a term for words that show up a lot in crossword puzzles because they have beneficial letter combinations or meanings that are easy to understand. The July 19 puzzle has "AXOLOTL," which isn't as prevalent, but a lot of Mini puzzles use these phrases over and over again. Knowing popular abbreviations, Roman numerals, and short, common words can offer you a big edge. "SMS" and "NES" are two examples of crosswordese.

Tip 2: Use the length of words and letters that cross over

Always check how many boxes there are for an answer. This quickly narrows down the options. When you fill in an Across response, pay attention to the letters that cross Down hints. These letters that cross one other are very important clues for figuring out the perpendicular words. A single letter can help you figure out a hard clue.

How to Figure Out Hard Clues: "Spending Binge NYT"

"Spending Binge NYT" was not a clue in today's July 19 puzzle, but it is a good illustration of a style of clue that can show up in NYT crosswords. Competitor articles often merely give the answer without any context, which makes solvers question what the backdrop is. Knowing how to read these kinds of clues will help you do better at crosswords in general.

The Meaning of "Spending Binge" in NYT Crosswords

In a crossword puzzle, a "spending binge" usually means a time when you spend too much money. Depending on how many letters are in the response, it may have something to do with words like "SPLURGE" or "FRENZY." These clues are used by crossword makers to see how well you know words that are used in everyday life or in common phrases. When you see a clue like this, think of phrases that mean eating or drinking quickly or without control. It's not usually about a single news story; it's more about a general idea.

Having trouble with "Spending Binge NYT"? Don't worry! The finest solvers know when to ask for help and how to learn from it.

Wordle, Connections, and Strands are other NYT puzzles that are similar.

The New York Times has more than just the Mini Crossword for daily puzzles. A lot of people who solve puzzles like to play these other games every day.

Wordle: In this well-known word game, players have six chances to guess a five-letter word. It gives letter-based feedback after every guess.

Connections: In this game, players have to locate groupings of four words that have anything in common. It measures how well you can connect words that don't seem to have anything to do with each other.

Strands: This is a recent game where you have to find hidden words in a grid that have something to do with a certain topic. You have to figure out the theme first before you can do the word search.

Doing these puzzles often will help you improve your vocabulary, general knowledge, and pattern identification skills, all of which are useful for the Mini Crossword.

The NYT Mini is beautiful because it is easy to go to. Anyone, anywhere can take a break for their brain.

Every day, it's fun to do the NYT Mini Crossword. No matter how long it takes you to finish the grid, you will always feel good about it. If you keep practicing, you will get better at solving problems over time. Keep in mind that every problem is a chance to acquire new words and ideas.

Crosswords are more than simply puzzles; they take you on a trip through language, trivia, and occasionally a "spending binge" of information!